Barometers turn rangebound

Equity barometers traded in a narrow range with decent gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty regained 11,300 mark after briefly slipping below that level.

At 12:32 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 211.91 points or 0.56% at 38,262.05. The Nifty 50 index was up 67.3 points or 0.6% at 11,314.10.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.74% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rallied 1.09%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1635 shares rose and 884 shares fell. A total of 163 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 21,881,858 with 7,74,053 deaths. India reported 6,73,166 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 51,797 deaths while 19,77,779 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 1.54% to 20.9775. The Nifty August 2020 futures were trading at 11,298, at a premium of 1.5 points compared with the spot at 11,296.50.

The Nifty weekly option chain for 20 August 2020 expiry showed maximum Call OI 32.73 lakh contracts at the 11,400 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 36.34 lakh contracts was seen at 11,200 strike price.

The Nifty option chain for 27 August 2020 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 22.85 lakh contracts at the 11,500 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 38.86 lakh contracts was seen at 11,000 strike price.

Buzzing Segment:

Shares of caustic soda manufacturers rose by 2% to 7% after the media reported that the government has extended anti-dumping duty for three months on caustic soda imported from China and Korea.

Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals (up 7.6%), Chemfab Alkalis (up 7.58%), DCW (up 3.76%), Meghmani Organics (up 2.95%) and Punjab Alkalies & Chemicals (up 2.62%) advanced.

As per media reports, India extended anti-dumping duty on imports of caustic soda from China and Korea till November 2020. The duty was extended after considering the recommendations of the commerce ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), that had requested for extension of the existing anti-dumping duty on the chemical imported from China and Korea.

The duty was first imposed in 2012 on a different set of countries to protect local industry from cheap foreign imports. The duty was then imposed on material coming from China and Korea in 2015 for a period of five years.

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